When brainstorming ideas for my retold story I decided to look into a well known tradition in my hometown Helston called Flora Day or the Furry Dance. Helston is a Cornish market town that celebrates this ancient event every year which dates back to the medieval period and now attracts thousands of visitors from around the country and south-west.
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| 1907 |
It is held each year on May 8th, unless it falls on a Sunday or Monday (Monday being market day) in
which case it is put back to the previous Saturday. This normally occurs around the yr9 SATS exams and Helston Community College (our only secondary school in the area) is the only school in the country to have the exam dates changed for this ancient event.
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| 1947 |
The day is split into five events, the Morning Dance, the Hal-an-Tow, the Midday, the Children's Dance, and the Evening Dance, all of which are performed around the streets of Helston. Each dance (excluding the Hal-an-Tow) is performed in groups of four with the men on the right and the women on the left. Each is a repetitive dance that involves the men changing partners back and forth throughout, all dances take about an hour through the streets. The Helston town band lead the procession for each dance playing the traditional Flora Dance music which never fails to give me goosebumps every year!
The Morning Dance takes place at 7am and is the first of the events of the day. It was traditionally performed by the maids and servants of Helston. In each dance the first four dancers that lead can only be Helston-born, a very strict rule that still applies in society today. The Morning Dance uniform consists of summer dresses for girls and a white shirt and tie bearing the town's crest (pictured below). This dance is then repeated with the same dancer at 5pm later in the day, usually when they've had to time to have a couple of drinks!
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| Morning Dance |
The Hal-an-tow is the next event in line but is different from the rest. It doesn't obey the same conventions of a dance as the others as it reenacts stories of St. George and the Dragon around the town, running and skipping from one stop to another. Many dress in leave and twigs, carrying flags banners and bells. I myself have never seen this event fully as I've either been preparing for the next dance or preparing to see family members feature in the next few dances.
The next event is the Children's Dance which has over 1,000 participants from fours schools, three primary and one secondary/college. Ages range from 6-18 and it is one of the most popular dances of the day. Each school has a colour to represent themselves and take it in turns to lead the dance every year.
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| 1932 |
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| Children's Dance today |
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| 1959 |
The most popular and eagerly awaited event of the day is the Midday dance, traditionally danced by the lords and ladies of the town but now watched to gush over the gowns the ladies wear. They must also accompany this with a hat and gloves, whilst the men wear tailed suits and top hats.
It is custom for everyone - not just dancers - to wear the Lily of the Valley flower (Helston's symbol) pinned to their chest. Men on the left facing upward and women on the right facing down.
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| 1947 |
There are many legends as to how the Flroa dance came about but I've narrowed it down to two.
The first is George and the Dragon which many are familiar with but the second is of St George and Satan. They say that Satan was flying through the sky with a boulder that was to guard the entrance to hell when St. George spotted him in the sky. He fought a battle with him (not sure how he got up there...) and during the battle Satan dropped the stone which is why it is believed our town is named Helston (Hells-Stone). After St. George defeated Satan the town celebrated dancing through the streets thus evolving into what we know today as the Flora Dance.
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